Undergraduate Summer Intern Review

This was by far the best summer internship I have had during my school and university times combined. The project I have received during my placement was very interesting. The team I worked in was very friendly and hard working, which encouraged me to learn more about the company and keep constantly improving.

The team and department I was placed in was very friendly. It felt like I have been working with the company for a while. Towards the end of internship with the knowledge and skills I have gained during my placement, I was asked to help out with projects that were not my main task. This showed me that the work I was doing was valuable, as I was able to help out with the project using the knowledge I gained during my placement.

Manager and chief engineer in my team supported and guided me throughout the internship. For any question or problems that I have had with understanding specific things about the company I was provided with a quick answer. This kind of support allowed me to progress with the task I was given in a fat and efficient way.

The workload on a daily basis was nicely balanced. I was not bored at any point during the internship and every time I requested extra work I was provided with a manageable tasks. The meetings very promptly organised when I needed them, which allowed me to do my work fast, efficiently and to high standards.

For my main project I was given freedom to do the project the way I wanted. Sometimes I was supported and guided from the outside by my chief engineer in case I was stuck or focusing on the wrong thing, but the data collection, any templates for the tables or charts and other things within the project were generated by me.

The experience that I have received in Jaguar Land Rover provided me with skills and knowledge that I will also be using outside of my work. I have attended multiple meetings, which increased my understanding of how big corporations operate. As well the meetings allowed me to have an insight on how the projects are created from scratch and progress in the company

The atmosphere in the office is really good. Everyone is friendly and very hard working, since there are projects constantly going on, but an occasional coffee with my team or a chat on a topic outside of the work always could take place. As well sometimes people organize getting some food outside of the office for lunch and there is always a possibility to be a part of that.

I found the organisation of my internship to be very good. At the start of internship I received the project brief file, with all the tasks, which I had to accomplish by the end of my internship. This helped me to plan my project accordingly, as well as tick off the tasks after I have passed them. The overall progression of my project was very good as well, since with each task I was learning new knowledge, which was used in the next steps of my project, as well as outside of my main project.

During my internship I always had the opportunity to take an extra course to develop new skills for my work, as well as I could attend a lot of other courses for self-development. At the start of my internship I had to have some extra training that helped me with my main project. The meetings (training) were all set up very during the first week of me coming in and requesting them. I was also lucky to come in at the time, when there were a lot of workshops going on about the department I was working in, which I attended. During my internship after discussing it with my manger I could attend 2 or 3 self-development courses, but I was only able to attend 1 due to some meeting clashes, when the training were taking place, but the option was always there.

At the end of internship, I had a review with my manager discussing how my placement went from my perspective and how he thought I did. During that meeting he also explained additional information about the progression from undergraduate to graduate positions. The progression within the company seems quite clear and at the start of the placement we were given the meeting partially explaining what we had to do to get a graduate position, but extra information about the graduate position and how I could get on it I learned during my placement mainly.

It was very easy for me to socialize with other undergraduates during my internship, as there were a lot of us coming to the company for summer internship, as well as most of the undergraduates lived in Coventry and we were able to meet after work there. In offices on the floor I worked there were more than 10 undergraduates in different teams and we tried to go to get some food together most of the times or go to different workshops for other departments. The communication between undergraduates was quite good, so if there was a workshop or department or a meeting we tried to forward those emails to each other to attend, as much as we could during our internships.

Since most of the undergraduates lived in Coventry the socializing was quite easy, we have organised weekly football sessions, as well as few trips to movies. On top of that there were few Facebook groups created for interns and people that live in Coventry, so it was easy to find rides to from work, organize different events and meet ups. For socializing with colleagues after work there were few events organised in my department, such as Frisbee golf and Footgolf. The cost of accommodation was relatively cheap, since Liberty Living does discounts for summer interns from Jaguar Land Rover. I found other costs of living in Coventry reasonable as well.

The Nightlife in Coventry is not that great though. There is only one club that all the undergraduates were going to and the variety of pubs and bars is also limited. So pretty much we went to the same 2/3 pubs every time and to the same club. On the other hand, London is only one hour away and Birmingham is like 20 minutes away, so for better bars and bigger variety I would 100% suggest going there. So overall for Nightlife around Coventry you can sort something out, but not for inside Coventry in my opinion.

For the activities in Coventry again there are few things to do here and there, like movies, bowling, football, laser tag, paint balling and quest rooms, but again that depends on what you like. Personally I just took part in football, quest rooms and occasional movie trips and I found all of them quite decent. There is a power league football pitches next to Coventry, so we organised a weekly football sessions, as well they have discounts for student bookings of the pitches. For movies I would suggest going Showcase cinema, which has student discounts. Even though I went to the Frisbee golf and Footgolf with my colleagues, they are only 25 minutes’ drive from Coventry, so I would suggest going and trying those out as well.